From surfing the web for a funny video to researching for academic work at school, students seem to use Google every hour of every day. Google is good for more than just entering search terms, though.

I recently read an article on CNN News that talked about how Google has begun testing out the idea of offering live chats with actual doctors, all at the click of a button. The idea comes from an everyday misuse of search engines: people go on Google and search for information about their medical problems, and doctors are frustrated by patients who search online for an answer to their symptoms. While there are quality sites out there, such open ended searches can convince people they are sicker than they really are, and more suspicious sites can offer sketchy advice on how to treat your symptoms. If you are overcome with fatigue but are not sure what that could indicate, you could contact a licensed doctor on Google live chat and describe your symptoms to get a more accurate answer.

While video chatting with a licensed doctor is still under the testing phase, this article made me think about how Google is helpful at Lincoln. Google is used by many teachers and students in a multitude of ways. One way Google helps teachers and students comes from the availability of Google Drive. Google Drive is a built-in application that allows people to create documents, presentations, spreadsheets and much more.

Typing up essays on Google Drive is very simple, as you do not having to worry about whether your document is saved or not because Google saves every word as you are typing. Teachers like that because they can see in real-time whether their students actually did work or not, without hearing excuses about how the essay did not save properly. Google also allows the writer to share documents with other people, giving them access to your essay and the ability to edit mistakes and highlight parts of your essay with comments on the side of the page.

Google helps connect teachers with their students and interact with them, even if not during the school day. Teachers can access students essays at the click of a button by sharing their email with you. It is these exciting technological advancements that are changing schools for the better.

Google testing out the idea of offering live chats with actual doctors is a brilliant idea and really has my attention to see if live chat with a licensed doctor will be a success and the world will start using it. It would save time from actually going to a doctor’s office, when all the doctor usually tells you is to take over the counter medicine.

We will just have to wait and see what else Google has in store for people in the future.